Many of us don't bother to warm up our voice before going into a rehearsal or performance setting

often to the detriment of our voice and unfortunately the listener's ears! Just like the athlete who

carefully warms up their body before a competition, equal attention must be paid to the vocal

muscles before a performance. To not warm up would invite injury to the body, or voice in our case,

and limit one's performance potential.

Here is a checklist of items to address as you warm up. The duration you focus on each area will be

dictated by the health of your voice or the demands of the performance for that day. However, all

elements should be touched on briefly.

Know that if you are physically fatigued, dehydrated, or struggling with allergies or an illness, it will

take a longer period of time to adequately warm- up and you will have to be gentler in your

approach. It IS possible to overcome slight vocal swelling by warming up, but you must plan ahead

and be thorough!

Simply do a few exercises in reverse order and you should be ready for the next set, or the next

performance. Break a leg!

Unlike any other musical instrument, the human voice is part of our ever-changing physical bodies.

Therefore, the condition of our instrument is directly influenced by the health of our bodies, the

amount of rest we have had, the amount of water we have retained, as well as the emotional or

mental state we are in at any given time. The vocal performer must constantly assess how their voice

is feeling and responding at any moment and be able to make the appropriate adjustments to insure

a predictable performance.

The following points are just a few reminders to help you evaluate how your voice feels before you

begin to warm-up and rehearse. There are also suggestions given on how you may adjust each

exercise to meet the unique vocal demands of that day later in the manual.